


Climbing in your Window

by nursefletcher



Category: Holby City
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-04-26 01:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14390901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nursefletcher/pseuds/nursefletcher
Summary: Breaking into your neighbours appartment while drunk wasn't the way that Fletch intended to meet his new neighbour, nor was it his intention to nearly get beaten to death by her, but there was a first for everything, right? (Title inspired by Creepin up the backstairs by the Fratellis / Flac University AU)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi chapter story, I'm excited ah ! Ages are gonna be levelled out for the stories sake and there will be a lot of OOC, it's supposed to be rather comical at some points and I just wanna have a bit of fun with the characters hehe. Updates shouldn't be too spaced out. Do enjoy, and leave some favs a reviews :)

She runs her fingers along the acceptance letter in her fingers, trailing along the letters delicately in almost disbelief. It felt as if she was too rough that it would disintegrate in her fingers. It was what she had been working for for years, what she’d struggled through school for, what she had worked through the horrors of foster care for. She’d finally achieved it.

She had finally received the acceptance letter to Oxford University. 

She had received her results not too long before, having gotten straight A’s in biology, chemistry and maths, the best in her year group by far. Not that anyone cared. The early years of torment and trauma she had suffered at the carehome had left her guarded and cold. No one stayed around long enough to get to know her, not that she didn’t blame them. She was broken too far beyond repair, all she had left to redeem herself was her career.

Well, future career.

She still had years a university to get through, but she was ready for it. Excited, even. To get away from this city, to go somewhere new. She could rebuild her life and move on from the ghosts that haunted her. Ready to create a new life for herself. 

She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the door slam of her small flat. She shared it with two other people, both female, but both miles older than her. They weren’t the most pleasant of flatmates, but they were better than the care home by miles. As soon as she’d turned 16, she had moved out and found a flat that was at least good enough to help her get through her A levels on only a part time job- it helped that her boss took pity on her after finding out her living conditions and paid her more than a usual under 18, but funds were still tight.

She braved it out of her bedroom and headed straight for the fridge, deciding to get her dinner ready and celebrate on her own in her room. Her acceptance letter was clutched tightly in her hand, as if it were her new born child, while she removed all of her necessary ingredients- cheap frozen vegetables, reduced price chicken and some cheap baby potatoes as a treat. 

She pushed the empty beer bottles aside to access the chopping board, alerting her two roommates of her precedes, who instantly take interest in the form clasped in the young girls hand. They share a look, before the taller of the two get to their feet and stride over to her, snatching it out of Jac’s hand while she’s busying herself with the necessary pots and pans. 

“Hey-“

“Shut up.”

The older girl snaps open the letter and runs her eyes over the letter, narrowing her eyes and a Cheshire Cat grin growing on her face as she finally figures out what the letter is for. All Jac could hear was the soft bubbling of the pot for the potatoes, eyeing up and down the taller girl in front of her as she helplessly stood watching, hoping the older girl took pity on her.

“Oxford uni, ay?” She hummed, shooting a smug smile at the other girl on the sofa, hearing a snort come from it, the two sharing a knowing look.

Jac’s eyes fell to the ground, swallowing hard at the jab at her. She’d worked so hard for this, so damn hard. She knew that classmates that wouldn’t have even got half the grades that she had gotten were at home being praised by their families and loved ones, so why did Jac not get the praise that she deserved?

The older girl considered the letter, before finally turning to look at Jac, her gaze piercing straight through her.

“Good riddance.”

The girl sneered before dumping the letter in the boiling pot with the potatoes before grabbing a half empty beer. 

She missed the tears that welled up in the young gingers eyes.

o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o

Adrian Fletcher had breezed through school.

He was charismatic, he was popular, he was good looking. 

He was also talented. Only where he was interested, though. Maths? No chance. Hated the subject, and even struggled to pass it at GCSE’s. 

Once he put his mind to something, he excelled in it. 

Teachers spoke highly of the young boy, saying that he had a real future. Especially in sports. Adrian refused to rely on becoming a footballer, always having dreamed on going to university, and was set on doing sports science and going to Loughborough university, the best university in the country for sports science and sporting facilities.

He especially excelled in Rugby, making it to some national games but had no passion for taking it any further. He jogged daily and went to the gym when he could, determined to be the best he could.

He had one of the best sets of results in his GCSE’s- minus the maths, of course. Getting a B wasn’t bad, though.

Then A level options came around, and he was stuck. A level PE was a must, and was his number one subject. But he didn’t really have a passion for any of his other subjects. Science was too much work, English was too ambiguous, and too much reading, and while he was good at art, he wasn’t invested enough in taking it at A level.

On a whim, he chose PE, psychology and philosophy and ethics. 

“Odd choice, but I wish you the best Adrian.” His teacher had hummed, signing him down for the three subjects. 

His parents were fully supportive of him, and were eager for him to do well.

“Our little Adrian going to the best sporting university in the U.K.!” His mum used to sing to him, pride bursting from her as she ruffled his hair.

But that wasn’t the case for much longer. His interest in PE dwindled, and he took an interest in his other two subjects. He started spending less time in the gym, and turning up to less practises, opting to spend his time reading more and more books about philosophy theories, and case studies on interesting psychological trials. 

University application deadlines finally came around, and he had a choice to make. 

“Mum, dad, I don’t want to do sports science anymore.”

His two parents shared knowing looks, before smiling lovingly at their son.

“Do what makes you happy.”

Psychology and philosophy. That’s what would make him happy, he decided. 

He applied all over the country, but he had his heart set on Oxford. He revised heavily for his exams, even going as far as to skip multiple 18ths- something he wouldn’t have been caught dead doing in year 12- just to secure his place in Oxford. 

Eventually, results day came, and so did his acceptance letter. 

He fist pumped the sky eagerly, a wide grin adoring his face as he wraps his arms around his parents, all three cheering at their sons success. 

“We’re so proud of you.”

His chest swelled up in pride, and he grinned eagerly at them. 

After meeting with his friends and swapping their respective news, the group cheered and tumbled out in one mass towards the closest pub.

“Win or loose, we’re on the booze!” He roared out, his friends hooting behind them, ready to celebrate their hard work.

Two very different people, two very different worlds, but both were about to head to the very same university.


	2. Climbing up the Backstairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking into your neighbours appartment while drunk wasn't the way that Fletch intended to meet his new neighbour, nor was it his intention to nearly get beaten to death by her, but there was a first for everything, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get a bit more detail on the two, mainly just introducing other supporting characters and what part they'd be playing in the story. I didn't really want to make everyone a medical student, so I chose some degrees that I thought would fit their personalities and such. Im not sure when the next chapter will be, I'll try get some sort of schedule going ! Enjoy ! :)

Cold water runs down her face as she splashes it, preparing herself for bed. Her hair falls lightly down her shoulders, her fiery ginger hair cut into a V shape at the back, her preferred haircut. Her face is free of makeup, a natural blush adorns her cheeks and her feline like eyes stare back at her from her reflection on the mirror. She has a burgandy satin silk dressing gown on, it was cheap but it was comfortable. Underneath, she had a black pair of dolphin hemmed shorts along with a strappy black top that had lack patterns running down the seams at the side. She wore simple black sliders with fluffy burgandy straps on them, completing her comfortable nightwear.

After brushing her teeth, the young girl made her way out of her bathroom and to her small student bedroom. It was sparse and minimalistic- the odd decoration here and there dotted around the room, and even if she had wanted it crammed full with pointless decor, she couldn't afford it.

She had taken out a student grant, along with applied for multiple jobs around the area to help fund her weekly bill of groceries and necessary textbooks and equipment. She was managing well, even having some left over money to maybe treat herself to some new clothes or even some wider reading material that she could get stuck into. She knew she had more money to spare than other freshers because she didn't go out and get pissed, instead choosing to enjoy a drink of wine to herself in her small room after finishing off her studies for the day.

She'd moved into her student accommodation about a month ago, taking all of her very small bag of belongings from the flat after chucking the keys at her roommates, shooting them a glare and slamming the door behind her, before hopping in a taxi that would take her to her new home for the next 8 years. Her course had finally gotten into the swing of it, introductions were over and explanations of the syllabus were finished and they were finally starting to learn the course.

She'd learnt that she was sharing her student accommodation with 3 other students, having 4 to a kitchen. She'd opted for an en suite, deciding she could handle the extra debt as she couldn't stand the thought of sharing her bathroom anymore after the terrors her previous flatmates had left her, and she didn't even want to think about the states that the carehome's were in. Despite having to share her kitchen, she had successfully managed to avoid two of her 'roommates', but had been introduced to one after he had been eager to meet her.

"I'm Rafaello di Lucca, and I'm studying medicine." He'd introduced eagerly, thrusting his hand out to her for her to shake. She had accepted warilying, mumbling out her name and letting him know that they shared the same course. They had conversed for a while, learning that Rafaello, Raf he had said for her to call him, was interested in learning about trauma, but was willing to learn about everything. Jac had expressed her interest in cardiotheratics and neurosurgery, but wanted to keep her options open for anything.

Theyd parted ways soon after, Raf's parents choosing to interrupt them to announce their departure. Jac had escaped into her room before the young boy could get talking to her again and invite her to a horrific freshers week party.

So far, she'd been lucky enough not to run into anymore of her roommates, but could occasionally hear them chortling away in the kitchen, bouncing banter across eachother. It sounded like there was another male out there, and a female too. At least it wasn't all boys, she'd mused to herself. They were harder to clean up after.

She hadn't been lucky enough to avoid everyone at her lectures, though. A boy her age by the name Sacha Levy had taken a liking to her, and had followed her around like a lost puppy. She had found him irritating at first, but when she saw how some of the more snobby Oxford kids had picked on him for his choice of clothing, she had felt pity for the young boy and had stood up to them, the bullies standing no chance against her cold demeanour and fearful eyebrow raise. From there on, Jac and Sacha had grown to have an almost sibling like relationship. Sacha knew her boundaries, and Jac was forever grateful to have someone that had stuck around her her, and had been patient enough to start to get to know her.

Kicking her sliders off, the young girl climbed into her bed, and leaned over to grab her textbook. She always liked to read up on subjects before they came up so she wasn't caught off guard by anything and could be the top of her class. She knew there would be competition; this was the best university in the country for medicine, and she was determined that she could be the best in her class with ease. She'd show everyone, especially her mother, that she was worth something. She would become the best surgeon in the world.

With that thought in mind, she started reading, making notes where necessary, eager to absorb all of the information she could.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 

"Cmon pal, the first year is the year to muck around and have fun, there's plenty of time to study!"

Fletch clutched onto Raf's shoulders, shaking them profusely to annoy the boy who was desperately trying to get through his textbook.

"Fletch!" He whined, trying to shut the persistent boy off of him. "I've gotta read up on the first chapter of this textbook before my lecture tomorrow, I don't want to look like a complete slacker in front of my professor."

Fletch rolled his eyes, giving up on shaking the boys shoulders and instead slumping down on his bed.

"Okay, how about this- you finish reading up on that chapter and then we'll go out after? It's only early after all, we have plenty of time." He grinned, knowing the other boy wouldn't take too much convincing.

Raf let out a low groan, and spun around to face his new friend. "If I have to retake this year then it'll be your fault. Go and make some dinner and I'll come out with you once I've got this done." He agreed, spinning back round to his work, effectively dismissing the other boy.

Fletch's face lit up and he ruffled the boys hair on the way out, earning himself a couple of nasty names on the way out. Ignoring him, he rushed into his kitchen, effectively slamming the door open as a grand gesture of his arrival.

"Get your heels on Jackson, we're going out!" He announced, dropping down beside the girl dramatically and reading over her shoulder of the magazine she was reading.

"Really? You managed to convince him? I'm impressed." Donna hummed, putting the magazine down and pushing herself out of the chair, heading towards her room.

"Where are you off to? Leaving me already?" Fletch questioned, swivelling round to face her.

"If you expect me to be ready in time for us to go out I'm going to need to start getting ready. Make sure there's some dinner ready for me for when I get out!" She sing songed, shutting the door behind her, leaving Fletch pouting and staring at the cooker as if it was a foreign object.

He peered across at his mysterious roommates door, curious to know who was behind it. They'd tried knocking on it as a group to invite her out before, but were yet to get a response from her. She seemed to be avoiding the three, opting to cook once the group had retired to their rooms for the night. All he knew about her was that her name was Jac, and she was studying medicine, similar to Raf. Even then, all he had to go off of was Raf's encounter was her, so Fletch didn't even know what the girl looked like. The boy had described her as having amazing cheekbones and almost a feline look about her, along with long ginger hair, but apart from that, he knew next to nothing.

Shaking his head from his thoughts, he set about preparing a dinner for the three of them, opting for spaghetti bolognase as he had all the ingredients for it and had cooked it at home, so he knew he wouldn't mess it up too bad.

He mused to himself of his new friends since joining Oxford, and had concluded it was all living up to everything her had wished for it to be.

Raf was the first person he had met, and was so far his go to friend, along with Donna. The Italian was hardworking and strict on himself, but knew how to have a good time when they went out and was brilliant at supporting his friends. Fletch knew how dedicated he was on becoming a successful surgeon and had every faith in him, even if he was encouraging him to come out instead of studying. In his defence, it was only the beginning of the term, and he should enjoy the lighter workload while he could. He knew he'd struggle to get the boy out much once the term went on more, so he wanted to enjoy his company while he could. Plus, he was a brilliant roommate, as he could cook amazing dishes on such a small budget. He definitely had his uses.

His other partner in crime was Donna Jackson, who also happened to be his other roomie. She was studying History and politics, and showed promising signs of a successful politician. She could argue anything and win, well, in Fletch's and Raf's case, anyway. The two didn't stand a chance against the young girls fiery temperament and sharp wit, always loosing arguments and generally end up doing her washing up for her. Despite this, Fletch thought she was a brilliant and loyal friend, always willing to stand up for those she considers her friends and was also brilliant at getting the boys free drinks on a night out. Neither of them were complaining.

When he'd gone to his first lecture, the first person he met had fallen for him straight away- literally. Ben Chiltern, or Lofty, as he preferred, had been the first student he'd met, and the two had got on almost instantly. There, the two met Serena McKinnie, who was studying Psychology, philosophy and linguistics, so shared only so many classes with the two. The trio got on well regardless, and always enjoyed to go out for a drink afterwards- Fletch enjoying a pint as well as Lofty, with Serena sticking to the Shiraz, amusing the two young boys.

He'd also come to meet many other people through each other- Lofty's roommates tended to join them; Dominic Copeland, Zosia March and Arthur Digby. He soon came to find that Dom was studying biomedical sciences, meaning he shared a very small number of lectures with Raf, Zosia was doing Politics and English, thus sharing some classes with Donna, and Arthur was studying Ancient and Modern History, once again sitting in on some of Donna's lectures. Donna often invited Essie along with her, who was a history and English student, and happened to be one of the nicest people Fletch had ever met. Him and Essie hit it off straight away, forming almost a sibling like relationship with each other. He'd also seen a girl called Morven join them a couple of times, joining Zosia after sharing some of their English lectures together, much to Arthur's dismay. Anyone could see the boy had eyes from her from a mile away, giving Zosia even more of a reason to invite the oblivious young girl out with them more often.

Overall, Fletch was incredibly happy.

Dishing up the completed Spaghetti Bolognese, Fletch called the two students out from their rooms for the 'Greatest budget meal they'll ever have!', and anticipated an evening of complete and utter chaos.

Complete and utter chaos is just what Fletch had gotten.

The usual gang were there, Fletch choosing to mainly hang around Essie, Donna, Morven and Dominic as they all pushed their way into the moshpit to eagerly dance the night away. Fletch drank what he was given, which granted, he knew was dangerous, but in his defence only took drinks from his friends that he knew. It also wasn't his best moment as he'd mixed far too many drinks, leaving him stociously drunk. Not that his friends noticed though to be fair- everyone else was either the same as him, or still too drunk to notice or care. Every man for himself, he supposed.

It was now coming up on 2am- not terribly late, but since he had a lecture at 11 the next morning, Fletch figured he should start heading home. Most of the group had split off now, those who had 9am lectures had gone relatively early, saving themselves for the weekend where they could stay out until 5am without the worries of lectures the next day. Only him, Dominic, Essie and Zosia had remained.

The four left the nightclub together, staggering along while giggling profusely, before they split off again; Dom guided Zosia to a taxi so they could make it home without Zosia collapsing, while Fletch offered to walk Essie back to her dorms which was a 5 minute walk away from his own. Knowing that walking home on her own at this time of night for a young girl like her wasn't the best idea, and knowing that Fletch wasn't really going out of his way was enough for her to hum her agreement to him.

The two started the 10 minute walk from the nightclub back to the dorms, the two snickering away at each other as they drunkenly rambled on to each other, telling whatever story that came to mind to each other as they stumbling along, gripping onto each other as if their lives depended on it. It kind of did, Fletch mused to himself, as he knew if he fell over now that he wouldn't be able to get back up and would probably end up getting mugged.

After dropping Essie home, Fletch started the short walk back to his block of dorms, humming to himself along the way, the world spinning around him.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

It was around 2:30am when Jac woke from her sleep after hearing a loud thumping noise at the bottom of her bed.

Without much thought, she sprang from her bed and wrapped her hand around the baseball bat that she had bought when moving out of the care home for self defence in case she had needed it when she moved into a flat full of strangers, and had yet to use it, but was thankful she had it in that moment. She crept slowly towards the end of her bed, fear running through her veins at the possibly intruder. What did they want from her? Surely she didn't have anything decent to offer her?

Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard a low groan and she rushed forwards, spotting a boy around her age lying on the ground clutching his head. Her breathing was shakey as she prodded the boy with the bat, causing him to open his eyes and finally looking up at her.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room?" She hissed at him, standing above him threateningly as she clutched the baseball bat in her hands firmly.

He pushed himself up so he was leaning on his elbows and looked her up and down.

"I should be asking you what you're doing in my room?" He slurred, blinking multiple times to try and focus onto her desperately.

"This is my room you moron! It's 2:30 in the morning you fucking idiot. You're clearly pissed- Jesus Christ, what are you doing trying to break into my room? Are you some kind of perv?" She snapped, clearly exasperated as she lowered the bat, but not quite having enough confidence to put it down just yet.

He scratched his head in confusion and shook his head, a confused look plastered on his face. As she finally came into focus, he also finally figured out that she was armed.

"Whoa whoa whoa careful where you point that bat!" He pleaded, raising his eyebrows as he took in the contents of the room. "Shit, sorry, I thought this was my room. I lost my keys and couldn't get in, and your window was cracked open- just assumed it was mine. Sorry ma'am." He saluted at the end, causing him to loose his balance and for him to go crashing back to the ground, causing him to groan again.

She stared at him, completely dismayed at the situation, and unsure what to do. She'd sorted out her drunk roommates before, but usually she could only get them to the sofa as she wasn't the strongest girl around.

"Can you walk?"

The boy in front of him pushed himself back up, but went too quickly, and ended up clutching his head to stop it from swimming. "I think I may be just a little bit intoxicated." He hummed back at her, offering a sheepish yet cheeky smile at her.

Jac huffed in frustrated, and used her foot to push him back down onto the ground, to which he happily complied. She picked up one of her pillows from her bed, thankful that she had two, and threw it at him in distaste, hitting him square in the face. She opened her cupboard and pulled out a thin blanket that she had and also chucked that him, noticing that the pillow was still lying on the boys face. She groaned in frustration and leant down next to him, lifting it off of his face to see him still conscious, but clearly in a daze. He turned his gaze to her as she lifted his head to put the pillow down under his head, before letting it drop with a thud.

"Very pretty." He hummed, allowing Jac to sort him out. She ignored him as she threw the blanket over him lazily, not bothering to remove his shoes or jacket.

"What's your name?" She bit out as she headed towards the bathroom to get him a glass of water in an attempt to sober the boy up, and to also grab the bin in there, just in case.

"Mmmm Fletch." He slurred, taking the water from her eagerly and drinking it as if his life depended on it. He vaguely heard her mutter something about a stupid name, but decided to ignore it. "And yours, m'lady?" He mused, laying back down on his makeshift bed.

"Jac."

"Mystery girl!" He burst out, shooting back up and instantly regretting it as he once again clutched his head, willing the sudden wave of nausea to go away. "You're our mystery roommate! Brains and beauty, being a medical student and all." He thought aloud. She sighed in frustration, and sat up to meet his gaze.

"Shut up and go to sleep before I knock you out with that bat like I should've done."

He seemed unfazed by her threat, but held his hands up in mock surrender. "Aye aye cap'pn!" He mumbled, before flopping back down onto his bed with a thud.

Peace and quiet, at last, Jac thought. Maybe she'd be able to get some sleep before her 9am lecture in the morning. She couldn't help but worry that he would get up and steal from her in the night, but once she could hear the soft snores coming from down at the bottom of her bed, she rolled over and shut her eyes, content that he was in no state to do any harm.

She would be in the morning, though.


	3. Mothers Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking into your neighbours appartment while drunk wasn't the way that Fletch intended to meet his new neighbour, nor was it his intention to nearly get beaten to death by her, but there was a first for everything, right? (Title inspired by Creepin up the backstairs by the Fratellis / Flac University AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah so this was quite a quick update, but they won't always be so frequent. My lessons today were cancelled so I had a lot of free time on my hands, so here we are. A bit of a different chapter, some dialogue this time- there might be some OOC, but I figured they may act different when they were younger. Hope you enjoy :) x

Jac awoke to the loud, obnoxious beeping sound of her alarm that had been set on her phone next to her. 8:30am it read. She groaned quietly to herself before sliding the snooze button and forcing herself up, stretching her arms above her head and yawning, cracking her back in the process. She grabbed her satin burgandy red dressing gown and tied it around her snugly, and slipped her sliders onto her feet.

She let out a long sigh, and ran her hands down her face as she assessed what to do with the lump of a man lying on the ground at the bottom of her bed. She contemplated taking a glass of water and dumping it on him, and even using the bat like she had so desperately had wanted to use, but decided on the least messiest of them all.

She delivered a swift blow of a kick to his side, instantly startling the man who left out a loud wheeze after getting winded. He rolled over and groaned, gripping his side and his head at the same time. She rolled her eyes at the pathetic show he was putting on, and knelt down to thrust a glass of water in front of him along with two paracetamol.

"Take these and then get lost. I have a lecture at 9, you're going to make me late." She snapped at him, leaving the pending items down by him before rising to her feet.

"How did I even get in here?" He whined, sitting up and grabbing the water eagerly like his life depended on it before downing it, along with the paracetamol.

"You decided to pay me a visit at 2am through my window." She grumbled, searching through her wardrobes for some smart trousers and a white blouse, along with some clean undergarments. "Which, by the way, won't happen again unless you want me to actually put my bat to good use." She hissed out, before striding towards her bathroom to her ready.

"Wait wait wait!" He called out after her, scrambling to his feet as fast as his body would let him. "First of all, I'm so sorry, it won't happen again. Second, could you possibly tell me where I am?" He rushed out sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he followed her towards the other end of her small room.

"It better not. You live next door to me. By the way, can you keep it down when you've got girls over? You sound like a dying whale." She deadpanned, effectively dismissing him as she slammed the bathroom door in his face, leaving him a mix of embarrassed and shocked.

She fell back against the door as she slammed it, shut her eyes and groaned in frustration. She'd done so well to avoid her neighbours and keep to herself. But now she knew more about her unconventional, alcoholic of a neighbour, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last she'd seen of him.

She only started getting ready when she heard him click her door closed as he left.

He gripped his head as he shut her door behind him, and shuffled his way into the kitchen to be met by his two bright and smiley roommates.

"Rough night, ay, Fletch?" Raf hummed, chucking down cheap cereal as he spoke.

Fletch threw him a glare as he poured himself another glass of water to try and help fight the pounding headache he was currently fighting off.

Donna stayed quiet, looking him up and down, before a smug smile traveling along her face. Fletch raised an eyebrow, shovelling a bowl of dry cereal down his throat as he glared right back at his smug roommate.

"That wasn't your room that you just came out of." She observed, sipping from her mug as she held eye contact with the young boy who's cheeks flushed red at being caught out.

"It's not what it looks like-"

"Oooh Fletch, used your charms on our lovely mystery girl?" Raf hummed, snickering to himself at Fletch's expense.

"Nothing like that." He muttered out sharply, stabbing the cereal with his spoon in frustration.

"Rejected?" Donna pouted at him in mock sympathy.

"I lost my key to the flats and climbed in through her window thinking it was my room." He confessed, groaning in embarrassment, dropping his spoon into his cereal with a thud.

A heartbeat of silence passed before the two uni students let out a howl of laughter, smacking their respective mugs and spoons down onto the surface as the two laughed at his expense.

"First impressions have never been your strong point, have they pal?" Donna wheezed, smacking him on the shoulder as Raf smacked the counter repeatedly, hardly believing what he had heard.

"Oh knock it off you two." He grumbled, sulking off as he picked up his bowl and spun around off of his chair, and marched towards his room.

He was stopped in his track as he came face to face with the culprit in question. Her feline eyes piercing into his as his mouth open and closed as he searched for the right words.

He knew she was beautiful, he had said it himself yesterday when she was taking care of him. Her fiery ginger hair cascaded down her figure, so straight that there wasn't a kink in sight. Her green cat like eyes were a gentle green with flickers of bronze in them, and were lined by a flawless flick of black liquid eyeliner and tones of matte natural eyeshadow that complimented her pale skin. She had an emotionless expression, her lips drawn in a fine line, a natural blush adorning her cheeks, complimenting her pale pink lips. A white blouse hung loosely over her figure, with black tight fitting tailored trousers, finished off with black low dr martens.

She looked stunning.

"Move." She demanded, narrowing her eyes at him challengingly.

He was snapped out of his trance and scowled at her, tilting his head.

"Would it kill you to say please?" He questioned, before stepping aside, gesturing for her to pass mockingly.

She didn't wait around, instead marching straight past him, heading straight out the door without as much as a glance or acknowledgment to Fletch's comment, nor sensing the other two presences in the room.

He spun around to let out a humourless laugh, and shake his head at them.

"Quite the character." Hummed Donna, returning back to her coffee and magazine.

"Don't let her cold demeanour fool you." Hummed Raf, who jumped to his feet and grabbed his bag. "She's actually quite a soft person behind that persona. She's got a soft spot for that Sacha boy, threatening anyone who even attempts to make fun of him."

"Sacha? The one with the bright coloured shirts you were telling me about?" Fletch question, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he's really funny once you get to know him. I reckon that Naylor will as well. Heart of gold, I reckon." He thought aloud, before heading out of the door to get to his lectures.

Jac Naylor. So that was her full name.

"Careful mate." Donna teased, her bag in hand as she heads towards the door. "You sure you wanna go there?" And with that note, she shut the door behind her.

Fletch scowled at the door, and shook his head. He wasn't interested in someone who was so rude.

He pushed the door open for his room to get ready for his 11am lecture, making a mental note to get himself a new key on the way back from his lectures so he could actually get in.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o

"Rough night?" Hummed Lofty as Fletch slumped down into the seat next to him, slamming his books with it.

"You could say that." He muttered. "My neck is killing me."

"Im not interested in the details, but who's the unlucky lady?" Lofty teased, elbowing him with a chuckle.

Fletch let out a throaty chuckle and shook his head. "It's not like that, although I wish it was."

"That bad?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Climbed through my window when I got locked out the block- turns out it wasn't my window." He snickered out, finding the situation to be rather humourous now that he'd lost the headache. "Her floor really wasn't that comfy, I must admit."

Lofty let out a chuckle of laughter, and she his head in disbelief. "Another one for the memory books, you have to admit."

"Oh, that's not even half of it. Stood over me with a baseball bat and threatened to knock me out. Doesn't help she's my 'mysterious' roommate." He exhaled deeply, shaking his head as he spoke. "Certainly unforgettable."

"Ah, well at least you've met her now. First impressions and all." He spoke thoughtfully, shrugging his shoulders. "She nice then? When she's not towering over you with a baseball bat?"

"Cold as ice. Woke me up with a kick to the ribs." He mumbled, rubbing the said area where he could feel the bruise already forming.

"Not sure if I'd be waking you up to a full English and large smiles if I'd been woken up by a stranger crawling in through my window at ridiculous o clock in the morning, would you?" He retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Touché" He agreed, chuckling to himself. "Raf reckons she's nice deep down, she's apparently taken a shining to Sacha. No one dares even look at his shirts anymore."

"Sacha? He's lovely. I've spoken to him a couple of times, he's in a neighbouring block. I don't think there's anyone on campus that wouldn't like him" Lofty cooed, smiling to himself. "He's quiet but he's funny, we should invite him out with us sometime."

Fletch nodded thoughtfully, and smiled at him. "The more the merrier, I say. He sounds like a good time." Fletch agreed, eager to meet the friendly guy that was the source of everyone's adoration.

"Maybe you should invite Jac as well. She might be in need of a good time, too."

Fletch scoffed in return, and shrugged his shoulders.

"I've already tried, but I'll have another go. Maybe Sacha being there will convince her to leave her room for once."

"Good. Don't give up on her so easily, Fletch, I'm sure there's more to her then what meets the eye."

He smiled at the curly haired boy and nodded, before the two turn towards their lecture that was just beginning.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

"He what?"

"You heard me." She muttered, accepting the coffee that had just been handed to her from the barista.

"So, you just let a complete stranger that had broken into your flat at 2 in the morning, stociously drunk, sleep in your room?" He snickered in disbelief, taking his coffee from the barista, offering up a quick thanks before following behind the shorter girl.

Jac rolled her eyes, and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but I'd like to see you carry an 6'0 boy to his room when you're 5'6" she barked in reply, strutting alongside Sacha in order to keep up with his longer steps. "Besides, I have a mean right hook." She grinned out, sipping from her to-go coffee cup smugly.

"I don't doubt it for a second." He agreed, chuckling at her antics. "What was his name?"

"I think it was Fletch? Stupid name." She grunted, rolling her eyes.

"Adrian Fletcher? The psych student?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Can't say I'm surprised, Lofty said he was a lot of fun." He chuckled, nodding his head thoughtfully.

"You know him?"

"Not personally, no. But I neighbour of mine does, attend the same lectures and all. Philosophy and Psychology, I think." He grimaced, unsure if he had the right course.

"Weird combination. I would've thought he'd have been in sports or something if I knew that Oxford didn't offer it."

"Stereotypes are dangerous Jac, not everyone is as they appear to be." He chuckled heartily, as they approached the library.

"Doesn't stop anyone else." She snidely remarked, a bitter taste in her mouth. "Whatever. I won't be getting involved with him, that's for sure. Far too childish."

Sacha just smiled at her, nodding along thoughtfully, choosing not to comment.

"Now, we've got a medical degree to get." She breathed out as the pair entered the library together

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x 

Lofty and Fletch pushed the doors to the library open, chortling away to each other as they noisily made an entrance.

"I have honestly never wanted to set myself on fire before up until that lecture." Fletch groaned, slumping down on the table where Dom, Raf, Morven, Zosia and Essie sat, along with a boy he hadn't met before with possibly the brightest blue eyes he had ever laid eyes upon.

"Oliver Valentine." He'd introduced himself awkwardly, offering a half smile as he flickered between eye contact and the table in front of him. "I'm in Raf's class, Medicine." He clarified, stuttering quietly. Fletch just slapped him on the back and introduced himself, eager to make him as comfortable as possible.

"I've heard all about your drunken antics, Fletch." Commented Essie, throwing him a smug look. "I'll be making sure to lock my windows in future, I wouldn't want a bumbling lump of a man crashing into my room in the night." She snickered, earning a number of laughs erupting from the surrounding table, including Fletch who just grinned at her, wrinkling his nose at her.

"Ha ha very funny, it's not so funny when your neck feels like it's been kicked in about 50 different places." He grumbled, scowling at the group.

"If it were my room you were breaking into, it would have been the case." Mumbled Dominic, pursing his lips in amusement. "I would have showed no mercy."

Fletch chuckled, and held his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay, I get it, I'm stupid, you'll never let me live it down, can we please change the subject?"

Morven, having taken pity on him, quickly switched the subject to complaining about the workload she'd recieved even though it was early on in the year. The rest of the group contributed eagerly, but Fletch's mind was elsewhere as he spotted a boy around his age with a bright pink shirt, scanning the books by the medical isle. Fletch hummed in thought, before elbowing Lofty in the ribs.

"Ouch! Couldn't you just say my name?" Whined Lofty, rubbing his ribs.

"Is that Sacha?" He questioned, ignoring his whining.

"Yeah, that's him. Couldn't miss him if you tried." He chuckled, raising his eyebrows. "You wanna go talk to him? Maybe invite him out this Friday?"

Fletch nodded, jumping to his feet with a big grin, Lofty following suit. "Won't be long!" Fletch called as they headed for the brightly coloured boy, received a chorus of acknowledgements to their dismissal.

"Sacha!" Called out Lofty, to which the boy swivelled around, a bewildered look on his face.

"Hey Lofty." He greeted, a warm smile on his face as he hugged his medical textbook. "How can I help?"

"Just passing through. Oh! This is Fletch." Lofty introduced, pointing at the grinning boy next to him.

"Ah, so you're Fletch." Mused Sacha, smugly smiling as he shook Fletch's hand, who grinned sheepishly in return.

"Naylor already filled you in?"

"You bet. What a first impression, I must say." He snickered.

"Well, I aim to please. Never a dull moment."

"Certainly isn't." Interjected Lofty, holding his hands up.

"Shut it." Grumbled Fletch, jabbing him in the ribs again. "Oh! And before I forget, we're going out on Friday night, Albies nightclub, you know the one? You wanna join us?" He offered, smiling at him.

"Oh! I haven't been there yet. I guess I could do with a break. Let's do it!" He cheered, the biggest genuine smile lighting up his face. Fletch smiled at him in return. He knew he was going to get on with him just fine.

"Oh, while you're at it, why don't you bring Jac with you?" Questioned Lofty, making the two boys turn to him. Fletch's eyes grew wide and he made a cut-throat motion at him from behind Sacha's back, but it was too late.

"Uh, I might have to do a bit of grovelling, but I'm sure I can try and convince her."

"Great! The more the merrier, isn't that what you always say, Fletch?" Grinned Lofty, shooting him a cheeky look.

Fletch's smile faltered for a second before he forced a smile. "Yeah, always."

"That's settled then! See you Friday guys!" Called Sacha as he headed back to his table. Fletch followed his gaze, only to make eye contact with those very same green feline eyes.

They held it for a heartbeat, before her eyes fell back to her work, pretending as if he wasn't there.

"Well, that was something." Lofty spoke at last, shoving his hands into his pockets as he spun around to head back to the group.

"It certainly was." Murmured Fletch, narrowing his eyes as his gaze lingered on his mysterious flatmate.

Fletch grinned. She'd be a challenge, but he was eager to get to know just who this Jac Naylor was.


	4. Get Dressed, Let's Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking into your neighbours appartment while drunk wasn't the way that Fletch intended to meet his new neighbour, nor was it his intention to nearly get beaten to death by her, but there was a first for everything, right? (Title inspired by Creepin up the backstairs by the Fratellis / Flac University AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rah, Jac may seem a bit OOC here, but I figured she'd probably act different when she was younger and be more open for change, and also just to make the story a bit more lax and less angsty.
> 
> In which the group go out and drink, Raf and Donna get lucky, Jac learns how to rave, and Fletch comes to realise he's not as opposed to settling down as he thought.

Friday rolled around quickly, and Fletch couldn't have been more relieved. He'd got his 9am lectures out of the way and had headed straight back to his dorm, eager to have a couple of hours to himself before heading out for the night. Raf had told Fletch that he was heading to the library, and Donna had lectures all afternoon, so he was relived to get a moment to himself. He loved all his new friends deeply, but he liked to be able to relax and take some time for himself every now and then.

Balancing his workload and social life wasn't always easy, especially since he really did want to do well, but couldn't help but feel that he should be spending his first year mucking around so that he could get it all out of his systems and settle down for his second and third year. Coasting had been working for him so far, and many people on his course had the same or similar outlook, choosing to do the bare minimum in order to focus on enjoying themselves. Those people included Lofty as well, although Lofty did appear to be doing more than Fletch, worrying that their professors would catch on and give them an earful. Fletch just snickered at him. Lofty was a terrible worrier, he had concluded.

He unlocked the door to access his flat, and pushed the door open into the common room, throwing his bag down onto the sofa lazilly. He stretched his back and let out a long sigh, kicking his shoes off and removing his coat before trudging further in so he could get started on making something for his dinner.

Only, he wasn't alone.

Jac sat on the counter of the kitchen, textbook in front of her along with notes sprawled out messily everywhere, topped off with a cup on coffee placed next to her. He could hear the soft humming of the cooker going and saw a pan filled with what appeared to be a stir fry cooking, and by the time he'd returned to look back at her, she was looking directly at him with her piercing green eyes.

"You're home early." He commented without thinking, chucking his coat down beside his bag as he walked into the kitchen to get a closer look at what she was cooking. "What'cha making?"

She let out a quiet sigh. "Wasn't in the mood for the library today. Just a chicken stir fry." She briskly replied, her eyes returning to the work sitting in front of her.

"It smells amazing." He moaned, taking a look at the range of vegetables that were mixed in, topped with soy sauce. "I'm not very good at cooking, although I make a mean spag Bol." He joked, opening the fridge to retrieve some vegetables, choosing to make a stir fry similar to hers, suddenly in the mood.

He was met with silence as she chose not to comment.

He looked over his shoulder and chuckled, shaking his head.

"Ah, I think we may have got off on the wrong foot." He started, abandoning the onions onthe chopping board and rounding the counter so he could face her properly. "I'm really sorry for giving you a fright with my stupid antics. I'm Fletch- Adrian Fletcher." He introduced, sticking his hand out at her.

She eyed up his hand thoughtfully, before leaning back on her chair, making it obvious she wasn't going to shake his hand.

"Jac Naylor." She replied, giving him a brisk nod. He nodded in acknowledgment- he knew that already, but didn't let on. "I've had to handle worse drunks." She mumbled in reply, choosing to avert eye contact. "I hope it won't be a regular thing, though." She spoke out sharply, meeting his eyes with her signature eyebrow rise.

"Ah, the climbing in your window Part won't be a regular. Can't promise on the drunk part." He spoke sheepishly, rubbing his elbow thoughtlessly. "Although, I have taken your complaints into consideration, and I shan't be bringing girls back here anymore- their places are usually nicer, anyway." He added, grinning at her cheekily.

She rolled her eyes, and returned her paper to her work. "You leave a lot to be desired, Adrian." She exhaled, shaking her head.

"It was a joke!" He squeaked out, a rosy blush traveling up his neck to his cheeks. "I'm not as bad as you think I am." He tried, scratching his head.

"I'm sure you're not." She cooed out sarcastically, not even bothering to look up at him this time.

He let out a huff of frustration, realising that he wasn't going to win this battle, and returned back to his onions, picking off the skin and proceeding to cut them. The two worked in relative silence, only the hum of the cooker filling the silence, and eventually sniffles coming from Fletch.

"Crying isn't going to make me feel sorry for you." Jac snapped, throwing her pen down and swivelling her chair around to face him.

He turned around in confusion, his eyes puffy and still sniffing. "I'm chopping onions?" He half stated, half questioned.

She almost looked regretful, but it was only for a heartbeat, before she nodded her head. "Good. I'm glad you're not that pathetic." She but out, turning back round to hide the flush that was coating her cheeks at her mistake.

Fletch rose an eyebrow, but chose not to comment further, instead choosing to prep the rest of his vegetables.

Eventually, she rose to her feet and took place next to him, standing over her meal as she stirred it around. The two worked in comfortable silence, both tending to their respective meals and acting as neither of them were there. Jac eventually moved away from him, taking her food to the counter and dishing it up onto a plate, before dumping the dirty pan in the sink, ready to clean away once she was done eating.

She took her seat again just as Fletch finished his prep, and he jumped up to sit on the counter worktop to wait for his food to finish cooking.

"You coming out tonight?" Fletch questioned, attempting to get some talk out the young girl.

"No."

Fletch's eyes shot to the top of his head at the bluntness of her reply, but quickly recovered.

"Dare I ask why?" He ventured, a sarcastic hint to his tone.

She sighed in exasperation, before spinning around with her plate in hand.

"Because I'm not about to waste my time in a nightclub surrounded by sweaty, drunken people who will inevitably try and hit on me and make me uncomfortable. Besides, I have a degree to focus on." She hissed out, narrowing her eyes in a silent challenge.

"Have you even been out before? We're really not like that. It's not good for you to be so swamped in work so early on in the course. You should let your hair down- Sacha's coming too."

"I know, he was the one that invited me." Came her reply, clearly avoiding his previous questions.

"And you're still not coming?" He exclaimed, tilting his head. "Surely you must want to go out with your friend?"

"He understands." She spoke indifferently, starting to sound agitated.

"Oh come on, Sacha doesn't really know any of us that well, I'm sure he'd appreciate a familiar fa-"

"Can you just drop it?" She snapped, her expression dangerous.

Fletch paused for a second- so this was the scary side of her. He could understand why she was feared. He was about to retort, but she beat him to it.

"I know your type. You want to be friends with everyone, and just wants a good laugh, even going as far as to use others expense to make yourself look better. Well let me tell you, your stupid, immature boyish charm isn't going to work on me, Adrian. I know that you have some ulterior motive to inviting Sacha out, and if I hear for even a second that you have done anything to upset or humiliate him, I will not hesitate to ruin your life." She bit out, scowling at him the entire time, each word laced with poison.

Fletch sat stunned for a moment. He broke eye contact with her and instead chose to jump down from the counter and focus on his stir fry. She seemed satisfied with his silent response, and turned back to her work. They stayed in silence for the rest of their encounter until Fletch had plated his food, and started to walk towards his room to eat it, but paused at the end of the counter.

"For what it's worth," he started, a sad smile on his face. "I heard about the rough time he had been getting in his classes, and figured he could do with some other friendly faces other than you, and that he deserved, maybe even needed a good night out to enjoy himself. I'm sorry if I've come across as only wanting to use people- that's the last thing I want to do."

With that, he walked into his room and shut his door.

Jac stared at after him thoughtfully, a pang of regret hitting her. Maybe she'd been too harsh on him, she mused to herself, letting out a long sigh. She picked up her empty plate and started on cleaning the place up, including taking his equipment and dumping it in the warm, sudsy water, figuring she owed him that much. Usually she'd leave everyone else's stuff as it wasn't her responsibility, but maybe she did have a heart after all, no matter how small.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

Half an hour had passed, and Jac was stood outside of Fletch's door anxiously.

She knocked gently, almost as if she'd knock too hard that the door would break. She heard shuffling come from behind the door, before it was prized open by a rather disheveled looking Fletch.

She appeared to have caught him in the process of him getting ready- he wore a burgandy shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, along with a pair of well-fitting black skinny jeans, finished off with a silver watch and white vans, to keep his outfit casual. His facial hair had been trimmed well, with only some slight stubble covering his chin and his hair ruffled, which she assumed he was in the middle of before she had interrupted him.

"You're getting ready early." She commented, snapping out of her trance before he could notice where her attention was.

"Ah, I've got to head out early as I'm going to Lofty's place to work on a project. Figured we'd use to together from there." He hummed thoughtfully, leaning against his door frame. "Is there anything you wanted?"

She fiddled with her fingers for a second, before coming up with a suitable answer.

"I've done your washing up for you."

He raised an eyebrow, and nodded. "Uh, thanks."

She huffed in frustration. He wasn't going to make this easy for her, she soon realised.

"I was out of line earlier. I jumped to conclusions when I shouldn't have. You didn't deserve that. For what it's worth, I appreciate what you're doing for Sacha." She murmured, choosing to stare at the collar of his shirt instead of his face.

"What's this? An apology?" He teased, moving off of the sideboard to stand up straighr in a more friendly posture.

"Don't push it." She warned, the small smirk on her face betraying her tone.

Fletch chuckled, and nodded his head at her. "Thanks. Shall we call it even?"

She hummed in agreement, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So, how much will I need to bring?" She questioned, her gaze piercing into his.

Fletch scowled in confusion, crossing his arms in a similar fashion. "You what?"

"How much will I need to bring with me to Albies? I haven't been before, I don't know how much the drinks will be." She stated as if it was obvious. "And while you're at it, dress code?"

Fletch spluttered for a second, before regaining his posture. "Uh, I usually bring about 20, we always usually tend to get a round each and then extra for some fast food after if we're hungry." He rushed out, a small grin threatening to surface his face. "And I'd say smart casual, maybe a dress or even smart trousers would be fine. What's with the sudden change of heart?"

She looked thoughtful for a second. "Sacha will need someone to get him home." She replied, before whipping her head around as both Raf and Donna entered the flat, noisily chatting away to eachother.

"Fletch when are you heading over to Lof- oh! Are we interrupting?" Raf spoke, but quickly fixed his tone after spotting who Fletch was talking to.

"No. I was just leaving." Jac murmured out, before striding away to her room and shutting the door behind her.

Raf and Donna looked at Fletch questioningly, only to be met with a shrug. "She was just asking bout the details for tonight." Fletch informed the two, which seemed to satisfy them. "Anyway, I'm going to Lofty's now, I'll meet you there, yeah? First round's on me." He cheered, heading out of the door as the two students cheered their thanks after him.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

"So you're coming?" Exclaimed Sacha down the phone, clearly excited by the prospect of it.

"Yes Sacha." Jac breathed out, holding the phone to her ear as she sorted her way through her wardrobe. A head towel was wrapped around her damp hair, a face mask coated upon her face with it. "How any times are you going to need clarification?"

"Sorry, sorry. You just seemed adamant that you wouldn't be seen dead there last time I spoke to you." His tone was apologetic, but she could still tell he was beaming. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

She paused. "How else will you get home in one piece?"

He scoffed. "You have never seen me drink! I'll get home just fine." He huffed, but chuckled soon after.

"So, I'll swing round your place at about half 9 and we can head to albies together- it's not that far from your place, anyway. Is that enough time for you to get ready?" He questioned, a hopeful hint to his tone.

She glanced at the time. 8:25. That would be enough time, she was quite speedy when it came to getting ready. "Yeah, sure, that sounds fine. You have my address?" She checked, finally picking out an outfit she was satisfied with.

"I do indeed. I'll see you later then!" He cheered down the phone before hanging up, allowing Jac to let out a sigh of relief as she chucked her phone onto her bed.

Nightclubs were definitely not her choice of place to spend her time. From experiences at the carehome, the whole idea of being surrounded by strangers that she didn't know nor trusted had left her feeling anxious at just the idea of it. She'd heard many stories about date rape drugs that mainly men used on women, and after seeing countless girls at her home loose their innocence, she wasn't sure she could handle more guilt in her conscious of being in the vercinity when it happens.

Hence why she'd avoided sixth form parties like the plague. Sure, she drank, but usually on her own, or she would occasionally go down to the local pub with some work and drink there. She knew it was quite sad, drinking on her own, but sometimes it helped. Especially when it came to the anniversary of her mums abandonment. When she was 17, she had bought herself a bottle of vodka and drank it until she was stupidly drunk. She had awoken in her bathroom, vomit all over the floor and her head hanging in the toilet. Her roommates had laughed at her, chucking a packet of floor wipes into the bathroom and shutting it behind her.

She shivered at all the memories that were overwhelming her. Time to make some new ones. One that were positive, and maybe even enjoy herself this time.

"Let's get this over with." She mumbled, pushing the door to her bathroom open to get ready.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

Sacha knocked on her door at exactly 9:30, a plain simple black short sleeved shirt, black skinny jeans and some red vans on his feet. Nothing bright, he decided, choosing to use his formal clothes that he would have saved for interviews. His chestnut brown, thick curly hair was barely styled, allowing it to sit wildly on the top of his head. He didn't want to make too much of an effort, he mused.

Jac let out a couple of muffled curse words as she rushed to open the door, her highlighter only completed on one side of her face. "Give me two minutes." She rushed out, striding back to the bathroom to apply the last of the highlighter and put on the setting spray.

"You look amazing." Complimented Sacha, giving her a small smile. "Wish I cleaned up as nice as you." He joked, running his hand through his hair nervously.

"You look great Sacha, everyone will love you." Jac reassured gently, grabbing ahold of her black leather jacket and a small black clutch bag lined with intricate golden patterns.

"I hope so." He hummed thoughtfully, and stuck his arm out for her to take. "Shall we?" He invited, his usual grin back on his face.

She linked her arms with his, and nodded her head, letting out a sigh of anticipation. She couldn't help but dread the evening- socialising wasn't the top of her priority, especially not with sweaty, horny boys.

"We shall." She muttered, before the two set off to join the others in Albies.

"Oi Raf mate! Over here!" Yelled Fletch, signalling to Raf who had just entered the bar, along with Donna and Essie. Fletch had arrived in Ablies only minutes before along with Lofty, Dom, Arthur and Zosia, who had brought along Ollie, who both clearly had eyes for each other. Only a matter of time, thought Fletch quietly, casting sideways glances at the two who were outrightly flirting with each other.

"Ey Fletch, I seem to remember the first round being on you?" Raf spoke as he approached, a white polo and cheenos on, along with burgandy adidas. His hair was spiked up and some light stubble made an appearance on his face.

"It better be. I'm planning to get alcohol poisoning tonight so I have an excuse not to do my History essay." Donna grumbled as she approached the corner of Albie's that they'd chosen to station themselves in. Donna wore a navy off the shoulder shirt body on dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, finished off with some silver heels and a long silver chain necklace and hoop earrings. She had gone for a smokey eye palette and a matte nude coloured lipstick. She looked good, Fletch thought to himself.

"Ah ah ah, we still have others to wait for- I'll get them once they arrive." Fletch returned, stubbornly staying seating, but a good humoured grin lay on his face.

"They better hurry up or I'm jumping over the bar and chugging the nearest bottle." Huffed Essie as she slumped down in a seat next to Fletch, the black heels she'd picked out already hurting her feet. She wore a short emerald green dress that was elbow length- the dress bodycon but the arms flowing freely as they reached her elbows. She wore simple studded ear piercings, and her hair was down and loosely curled, her golden locks draping over her shoulders. She looked beautiful as well, Fletch thought, realising just how good looking all of his friends were- not that he'd try anything on them, he knew he wouldn't get far with his stupid, boyish charm.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Morven arrived, bringing a short blonde in with her.

Morven wore a strappy red dress with a silver hemmed choker, paired with silver heels and huge hoop earrings. Her eyeconic eyeliner lined her eyes, along with some warmly toned eyeshadow, paired with bright red lipsticks. The blonde next to her wore a purple dress that complimented her pale skin, along with having her hair straight, cascading down her shoulders.

"Hey guys!" Called out Morven, the nightclub getting busier as the night went on. "This is Cara- she shares most of my lectures." She yelled out, her arms linked with the girl who shyly waved at the table. A chorus of 'hello's' and 'nice to meet you's' travelled down the table before the two took their places on the spare seats.

Fletch's eyes kept darting to the entrance of the nightclub, eyeing it up as he waited for the remaining guests. His distraction didn't go unnoticed though.

"Eager for a certain someone to join us?" Hummed Raf, jabbing Fletch in the ribs to get his attention.

"Oh fuck off." Grumbled Fletch, trying to fight off the grin threatened to surface. "I'm just eager to get these drinks in, I think we're all getting really restless." He tried to defend himself, but knew Raf saw straight through him."

"Hm. I'm sure. You won't have to wait around much longer then." He commented, gesturing to behind Fletch.

Approaching the table was Jac and Sacha, arm in arm.

Fletch didn't think he'd ever seen someone so beautiful.

Her hair was straightened as it usually was, but looked a lot fresher and gentle. It flowed down her shoulders, brushing back as she strode along confidently, her face showing not even a hint of emotion. She wore a black jumpsuit that clung to her body tightly, the sleeves a pattern of lace which traveled all the way down to her hips. The chest was cut into a low V, showing off just enough cleavag, but nothing too tacky. She wore simple black high heels which she appeared to have no problem striding around it, making it look as easy as walking normally. Her look was finished off by eyeliner and naturally toned eyeshadow, along with a natural matte pink lipstick.

Fletch was smacked on the arm gently by Fletch, and he regained his composure before leaping to his feet, turning around to address the table.

"Right, shots all around I think! 13 right?" He called out, to which the rest of the table hummed in agreement. "Thank god for student discounts." He muttered to himself, knowing this would be expensive.

He then turned around just as Jac and Sacha arrived, to which he grinned at the two.

"Just in time! First rounds on me, nice to see the two of you arrived in one piece." He greeted, smacking Sacha on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "You both look lovely, by the way." He added, shooting Jac a glance before striding off to the bar, his face most definitely red.

He placed the orders for the shots, choosing to go with the simple stuff- vodka. Always got the job done, he figured, and was generally the cheapest thing to get. It was 4 for £4, which he thanked God for, and placed an order for 16, figuring he would just save the three extra shots for himself and two others. The small glasses arrived on two trays, and Fletch stared at them blankly for a second, figuring he'd just have to make two rounds.

He almost dropped the plate when a hand brushed against his shoulder, only to see it was Jac who had joined him. "Need a hand?" She questioned, pointing to the two trays.

"Would you please?" He grinned sheepishly, picking up one tray.

"Sure. I best be getting one of those extra shots, though." She commented, picking up the second tray, offering him a tight lipped smile before slipping back to the table to deliver the goods.

"Let's get this party started!" Bellowed a Fletch to the table as he arrived, placing the tray down with a cheeky grin. The table all scrambled to grab a shot, leaving three as expected, and held them up.

"On three! One, two, Three!" Yelled Fletch, throwing the vile liquid down the back of his throat. He hissed and pulled a face at the unpleasant taste, mirrored by most on the table apart from Zosia, Jac and Dom.

They all raised there eyebrows, and Dom rolled his eyes. "Lightweights." He commented, to which Zosia hummed in agreement.

Within a heartbeat, Jac had nabbed one of the remaining shots and thrown it back down her throat, holding up the offending glass after and smirking. "Cheers." She drawled out, the table looking on at her in a mix of awe and amusement.

Fletch followed suit, grabbing another one and throwing it back, grimacing at the taste but refrains from making too much of a scene with it.

"Too much for you to handle?" Commented Essie, who snickered.

"It tastes like death!" Complained Fletch, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "Who's gonna fight for the last one?" Questioned Fletch, holding up the impending item to the table.

"I'll arm wrestle literally anyone for free booze." Challenged Zosia, holding her arm out ready for a fight.

"You're on." Growled Donna, hopping to sit across from the other girl, connecting their arms as they prepared for their wrestling match.

"Alright ladies," started Ollie, sitting so he was sat in between the two. "We want a fair fight. No cheating, or you'll be buying the next two rounds. The loser had to buy only the next round." He stated, to which the rest of the table cheered, Fletch throwing in a few howls of encouragement for Donna. He made a sideways glance at Jac who sat next to him, who appeared to be looking on in amusement.

"Ha! With what money, Ollie?" Drawled out Donna, faking wiping away a tear. "Poor student, remember? I can barely handle a round."

Ollie shrugged. "I don't make the rules. It won't be a problem if you don't cheat." He snidely remarked, shooting her a sarcastic glare. "Right! On three! One, two Three!"

The two girls clenched their muscles as the two fought to win the battle, both appearing to be struggling. There were cheers coming from all around the table, each respective person cheering for a different girl as they battled it out.

Eventually, Donna's arm gave out from under her and Zosia slammed her hand down, smugly grinning at the girl. She reached for the shot and downed it, holding eye contact with Donna as she did so, slamming down the glass as she did so. "I think it's time for the next round, don't you think, Donna?" She drawled out, the rest of the table erupting into cheers for the winner, to which Donna stuck her tongue out at her in good nature as she sulked off to buy the next round, followed by Essie who would help carry them over.

Fletch chuckled, and turned to face Jac, leaning into her ear so she could hear him.

"Having a good time?" He questioned.

Jac turned to look at him, smirking at him. "So far. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea." She hummed thoughtfully.

Fletch chuckled at her, moving away from her and just looking at her with affection.

He looked forward to what else the night held in store for them.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o

As the night had progressed, everyone had split up to different areas of the nightclub as the alcohol had continued to kick in, leaving them in small groups scattered.

Fletch, Raf, Cara and Donna had headed into the moshpit, Raf and Cara hitting it off straight away, as they all screamed along to the songs playing and dancing along- albeit, badly, but they were enjoying themselves.

As a song came on that Fletch didn't recognise, he thought it would be a good chance to excuse himself to take a breather. He shouted into Donna's ear that he'd be back, who was too busy to notice as she danced against another person, before pushing his way through the crowd to the bar. He slumped back against it, and threw his head back, a lazy grin framing his face.

"Having fun?" Hummed a voice next to him, which he recognised to be Jac's.

She looked a bit fuzzy, but still stunning he noticed, as she stood next to him, leaning against the bar in a similar fashion.

"Why aren't you dancing?" He slurred, turning to face her sloppily.

"Ah, I don't dance." She grimaced, knowing where this was heading.

"Rah! Nonsense!" Cried Fletch, shaking his head. "Give me five minutes and I'll show you how to rave." He snickered out, unsure as to what he was actually laughing at. "Where's Sacha?"

Jac chuckled. "Chatting up your blonde friend. She's lovely, by the way. Most of your friends are." She commented, gazing over at Sacha as he spoke eagerly to Essie, who was returning it was just as much enthusiasm.

"Essie's brilliant. A good egg." He joked, nodding his head in approval. "I'm soooo glad you came out tonight. Made me sad thinking about you cooped up in your room all on your own." He stumbled out, his eyes lidded as he spoke.

"Trust me, it's a preference." She commented, snickering at him. She was tipsy herself- she'd had as many shots as everyone else, but was able to handle her drink a lot better than them, apparently.

"Still." He started, but never finished his sentence as a new song came on, instantly perking him up.

"Oooh ! I love this song!" He yelled, grabbing her hands, to which she yelped in surprise as he dragged her to the dance floor.

"Fletch! Adrian! I don't dance!" She tried, but he wasn't having any of it.

"You ain't even missin me baby!" Bellowed Fletch along to the lyrics, the rest of the nightclub howling the lyrics out with him. "So why do I want you so badly?"

Jac watched him in amusement as he swayed his body to the rhythm, holding her hands firmly, forcing the girl to dance with him, a small smile playing on her lips. If she were sober, she was sure she would have slapped him by now, but, date she say, she was actually enjoying herself.

"Makin a fool, of me, I'm so keen, baby I got your back, like we're still seventeen!" Jac joined in, only knowing parts of the song, causing Fletch's smile to expand even wider than she thought possible as the two danced and sang the lyrics together.

As the song came to an end, the two stumbling off of the dance floor, laughing and snorting as they struggled to stay upright, the alcohol starting to hit Jac as her vision swam a bit.

"You two having fun?" The two looked up to see Zosia and Ollie staring at them in amusement.

"You're still here? Honestly thought you'd be at your dorms shagging each other by now." Spluttered out Fletch, causing Jac to let out a honk of laughter at his bluntness.

Ollie's cheeks grew hot and Zosia laughed at them. "So did I." She hummed in agreement, eyeing Ollie from the corner of her gaze.

Fletch and Jac watched as Ollie open and closed his mouth like a goldfish, before he grabbed her wrist and started dragging her towards the exit. "See you tomorrow!" He called from behind them, Zosia laughing as the two left.

The two shared a look, before bursting out laughing as the two gripped onto each other for support.

"I didn't expect that!" Weeped Jac, running her fingers under her eyes.

"I did." Countered Fletch, struggling to stop giggling.

The two were snapped out of their giggling fit as they realised just how close they were. One of Fletch's hands was holding her waist while the other gripped her elbow. One of her fists was curled into the shirt on his chest, and the other holding his shoulder. She was mere centimetres from his face, and could smell the strong scent of vodka off of his breath as his breathing depended. She could see him glancing between her eyes and her lips, and that's when she panicked.

She thanked the song for changing, as she quickly released her grip of him and took a step back, coughing to shift the awkward atmousphere. "I love this song." She commented, avoiding his eyes, suddenly feeling a lot more sober.

"Yeah." He mumbled in return, staring at his feet. It was inaudible to her though, so she shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. He didn't have time to feel sorry for himself as an arm was wrapped around him.

"Fletch!" Slurred Donna into his ear, a bloke he didn't recognise hanging off her other arm. "I'm heading back to the flat and so is Raf with Cara, will you be alright getting home?" She shouted over the noise, grinning at him lazily.

"Yeah yeah, think I'm gonna stay a bit longer, nd I'll just come back with Jac." He shouted in her ear, to which she nodded and giggled at him.

"Use protection!" He called out after her, to which she retorted by flipping him the middle finger.

When he turned around, Jac had slipped away.

He was disappointed, but too drunk for it to get to him too much. He soon caught up with Sacha and Essie who had since joined the dance floor, and decided to hang around them as the three chanted along to the songs that played out.

He didn't see Jac slip out the door with a boy around his age, and get a taxi back to the boys dorm.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

4am came around soon enough, and the crowd was starting to die out. Fletch figured it was time to be heading back home, as he was starting to struggle to keep his eyes open.

All that was left of the group were Lofty, Dom, Sacha, Essie, Morven and Arthur. Fletch scoured the crowd, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Anyone seen Jac?" He called out to the group, his voice still slurred but he shad managed to sober up a tad since then.

"She left with someone." Sacha called back to him, shrugging his shoulders. "Never seem him before, but she said not to wait up for her."

Fletch felt his stomach drop. He swallowed thickly, and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. He knew that he found her attractive, but he never really realised that he may even be starting to feel something more for her. Clearly, though, that feeling was reciprocated.

"I'm glad she's getting out." He decided to say, placing a fake smile on his face.

No one seemed to notice his distress, to which he was very greatful of the alcohol for, and the group piled out of the nightclub.

"We're going to head to maccies, you coming?" Essie nudged him, but it was more of an elbow as she stumbled over her own feet.

"Nah, I'm gonna head home, I'm shattered." He grimaced, not in the mood to be around anyone anymore.

"My my, is that Fletch being a sensible boy? Never thought I'd see the day." Honked Essie, before slapping him on the shoulder. "Go on then, I'll see you tomorrow, if I'm not dead by then." She joked, before stumbling along in her heels to catch up with the others.

Fletch smiled after the group before turning on his heels and heading back in the direction of his dorms, ready to get under his covers, shut the world out and feel extremely sorry for himself.


	5. It's always Hard in the Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel Bailey is from s19ep15, an old uni friend of Jac's turned up on the ward and I thought it would be fun to include him here haha.
> 
> In this weeks update, everyone seems hungover but Fletch, Jac does the walk of shame, Donna gives TMI and the duo get drunk again.

Shovelling cereal into his mouth, Fletch scanned through the notes sat in front of him, appreciating the unusual quiet morning, as he was usually the one snoring away until late into the afternoon. When he'd got home last night, he'd managed to sober himself up as much as possible before passing out on his bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off nor get under the bed clothes. Wasn't the most comfortable feeling to wake up to, he had thought to himself.

Waking up at 11am was a miracle for him. He didn't even get up at 11 on a good day, let alone after a night out. He'd woken up to complete silence, save from the faint snores that he could hear nextdoor every now and then. He'd sighed, and forced himself out of bed, surprisingly not nursing a horrible headache, but was still feeling stiff and groggy. He'd headed straight for the showers, enjoying the fact that he didn't have to worry about his roommates complaining about his singing as he hummed along to his speaker that sang out his playlist at him.

He'd quickly thrown a simple white t-shirt on and a baggy pair of black joggers, relishing in the fact that he was able to have a quiet day in and recharge his batteries. He'd grabbed his speaker and notes, heading to the kitchen to allow himself to study while enjoying a breakfast- some simple cereal and milk, along with a glass of orange juice afterwards. He was far too lazy to make himself a fry up, and knew that if he did, he might kick his roommates stomachs with the strong smell. As much as that tempted him to do it, he decided to take pity on them, knowing how horrific it could feel.

As he finished his food, he'd picked up his bowl and headed to the sink, shimmying his hips and bopping his head to the opening tune of 'leave before the lights come on', which eventually turned into a full rendition of it as he lip synced along to the song, using his spoon as a microphone as he stupidly danced in the kitchen, an innocent smile stretching across his face.

From the volume of his speaker, he didn't notice the door to their shared flat open and close as Jac returned home, in the same clothes she was wearing yesterday. Her makeup was slightly smudged, her hair was no longer perfectly straight, and she didn't walk with her usual graceful she swagger as she kicked her heels off, groaning in discomfort of them. She perked her head around the corner to see where the music was coming from, only to catch Fletch half way through his rendition of the music, his eyes were closed as he swang his body around, cleaning up the used bowl as he did so, every now and then pausing to play the air drums along with the tune.

If she wasn't hungover, she probably would have appreciated it more, but he head was pounding and she wanted him to turn the stupid music down.

"Fletch, turn that racket off." She whined, leaning over the counter and clutching her head as she spoke.

Fletch jumped and turned around, but didn't quit his dancing, and instead a devious grin adorned his face. Instead of lip syncing, he decided to start singing for her, snickering to himself as the verse came up.

"And they woke up together, not quite realising how, awkwardly stretching and yawning, it's always hard in the morning!" He exclaimed dramatically, not too loud as he didn't want to wake Fletch and Donna, but enough to annoy the redhead and he current clear hangover.

Jac just groaned in response, and trotted over to the speaker, holding the power button down to turn it off. "You're a cruel man." She snapped, pushing past him to get to the cupboards and find some paracetamol.

"You shouldn't take that without eating." He warned, taking a seat back behind the counter to continue with his studies.

"Bite me." She hissed, chucking the pills down her throat and snatching his orange juice from his hand, causing Fletch to protest, using it to help swallow the pills.

He let out a huff and held up his hands in mock surrender, knowing it was too late to even try and get it back off of her. "Sure Jac, you can have some of my orange juice." He mocked, grumbling to himself as he focused his attention back on the textbook in front of him.

"You sound like a whiny two year old." She retorted, rolling her eyes as she finished the drink off, and took a seat across from him. "Is there any food?"

He let out a long sigh, before looking up at her with raised eyebrows. "Do I like like a slave to you?" He breathed out, exasperated by her demands.

"Just get me something to eat." She barked out, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Get it yourself."

She stared at him for a moment in disbelief, before getting to her feet and stomping over to the cupboards, shuffling through them before he found a packet of waffles, and stuck two in the toaster. "You want one?"

He shook his head. "Nah thanks. I've already eaten."

She nodded slowly, scowling at him as she pushed the toasted down and returned to her seat across from him. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, feeling her nerves shortening by every second.

"I was enjoying my music." He huffed out, both of them knowing he was lying, but she chose not to comment.

"Jesus if it puts you in this mood I'll put it back on." She mutters, reaching over to turn the speaker back on. He grinned in satisfaction, hitting play on his phone as his music restarted, the rest of the song playing out, the line 'but I suppose that's the price you pay' ringing out.

"Ah, is the song ringing too close to home?" He teased, although there was a slight bite in his tone.

"And why do you care? It's none of your business." She stated, rising to her feet and walking over to the toaster as her waffles popped up.

"I don't. I'm just teasing you." He hummed, listening to the scraping of butter that she ran over them. "So? Who was it?"

"You don't even know that I slept with anyone? Maybe I was just out all night?" She challenged, narrowing her eyes at him as she takes a big sloppy bite from her waffle, sitting down back in front of him.

He let out a snort of laughter, shaking his head at her. "I know a walk of shame when I see one. Now come on. Who was it?"

"You wouldn't know him."

"Try me."

She lets out a long sigh, cursing her persistent, and dropping her waffle down onto her plate.

"His name was Gabriel. Woke up this morning to white roses and a cheap DVD from some band I've never even heard of. Fucking weirdo." She grumbled out, averting her eyes from Fletch as he let out another snort of laughter.

"You think that's bad? I had some girl after me that wouldn't accept it as a one night stand. Climbed in through my bathroom window one night and I woke up to her standing at the bottom of my bed watching me." He snickered out, a shiver running along his spine at the memory of it.

"Sounds familiar." She hummed out thoughtfully, eyeing him up and down.

"Oh come on, that was different. I didn't do it in a creepy way." He defended, sticking out his lower lip at her.

"Well, she must have low standards to be that obsessed with you."

"You wound me, Miss Naylor." He grinned at her, watching as she finished off the last of her waffle.

"I'm going to shower, I feel disgusting. My head is also crying at me to get away from the loud racket of your music." She announced, stumbling to her feet with a slight wince as she moved her head too quickly.

"So that was the smell?" He teased, to which he received a scowl as she trundled away into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Fletch grinned at the door after her. He could live with being friends with her.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x

Half an hour later, Fletch nearly fell off his chair as the door to Donna's room opened so quietly that he didn't, and only noticed he had company as he called out bye behind him.

"Yes." Fletch responded awkwardly, being catched off guard as Donna's one night stand swaggered out of the room without even offering a glance at Fletch as shut the door behind him. He shook his head, an he clutched his heart in shock as Donna slammed her door open as she tripped and went flying into the wall, groaning at the sudden impact.

"Fuck." She hissed out, her duvet wrapped around her form as she stumbled over to the counted, taking a seat across from Fletch.

"Good night then?" He teased, jumping to his feet to pour her a glass of water. "You hungry?"

Donna looked at him through her eyelashes, a dangerous glint to them. "I'd rather get burnt alive."

Fletch held his hands up in mock surrender, and pushed the water in front of her, to which she gulped down in what Fletch would have considered record timing.

At that moment, Raf had emerged, lacking a certain young blonde haired girl. He didn't look too awful, but the bags under his eyes betrayed him, showing he'd hardly slept.

"No Cara?" Fletch questioned, pouring a glass of water for him too as Raf took a seat next to Donna, running his hands down his face and groaning.

"Walked her home. I'm not like you Fletch." He grumbled out, taking the water from him and taking gentle sips from it.

"Bit harsh. I haven't done that in a while." He defended himself, sticking his toungue out at him.

"Whatever you say, pal." Raf rasped out, signing to himself.

"I for one don't see a problem with it." Donna spoke up, pushing the glass back over to Fletch, silently asking for a refil. He rolled his eyes as he got to his feet, filling the glass back up again.

"That's because you do it to." Raf returned, smirking at the two. "Im a gentleman, you see."

"Sad." Fletch shrugged, pushing the glass over to Donna. "Although, it's less of a blow to my ego to know I wasn't the only one who didn't get laid last night." He thought aloud, slotting his notes into his textbook, knowing he wouldn't get anything done now with these two up and about.

"Oh Fletch honey, are you loosing your charm?" Teased Donna, reaching over to rub his arm in mock sympathy, to which Fletch shrugged her off, sending her a sarcastic smile.

"You wish. Just wasn't in the mood, you know?"

"Why? A certain redhead didnt fall into your arms, huh?" Commented Raf, sipping his water with narrowed eyes.

Fletch spluttered in return, not expecting to be called out like that. "Rah! It's not like that. Besides, she's not my type."

"Okay pal." Raf retorted, rolling his eyes at him.

Fletch grumbled to himself, defeated, as Donna chuckled at the pairs antics. "You're both ridiculous." She commented, to which Fletch was greatful for the change in topic.

"So? Got lucky then Donna?" Fletch commented, leaning his arm on the counter and grinning at her.

"Very." She breathed out, rolling her eyes for emphasis. "I am surprised I'm still walking."

The two men scrunched their noses up, and stuck their tongues out.

"TMI." Raf deadpanned, to which Fletch agreed with.

"You did ask." Donna pointed out, shrugging as she drank her second glass of water.

Raf got to his feet again, and headed towards the shower. "I'm going to try and scrub that image from my mind along with getting this grimey feeling off of me." Raf announced, heading towards his room.

"I'll second that." Donna said, already moving around a lot better, but refusing to remove the duvet that was wrapped around her. Fletch wondered if she was even wearing anything underneath, but shivered at the thought and pushed it to the back of his head, not wanting to know the answer.

Being left alone once again, Fletch gathered his notes and headed back to his room to finish his work for the weekend so he could relax.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x 

It was coming up on 6, and Fletch was bored. He'd done most of his work, and the work he hadn't done wasn't due until later in the week, so he didn't care enough to get it done in advance. Deciding to put himself out of his misery, he ventured outside of his room to find someone to bother.

He knew Raf had gone down to the library to meet Cara, knowing it was an excuse as they did two completely different courses and therefore couldn't really study together. Not that he was going to comment on it- he found it quite sweet, really.

He headed towards Donna's room, before stopping short at knocking the door. He could hear the faint sound of snoring coming through the door, and he let out of huff of frustration.

He shuffled around the shared flat for a while, before deciding to try his luck at Mystery Girl, figuring he may be able to get to know her a bit better. He strided over to the door, before knocking on the door loudly, clenching his teeth as he waited for a reply.

His shoulders slumped as he waited for a response, feeling a pang of disappointment as he heard nothing. He turned to move away from the door, admitting defeat and maybe considering going out to bother Lofty, when the door was pulled open and a slightly disheveled Jac appeared on the other side of the door.

"Sorry, I was doing a sort out of old clothes. What do you want?" She questioned, running a hand across her face to get the fly away hairs from her face. She wore a baggy emerald green hoodie and some black leggings, along with some fluffy grey socks with dog bone patterns dotted on them. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she only had some mascara on her face, the rest of her face bare. She looked adorable, Fletch concluded.

"I'm bored." He whined, leaning against her door frame as he stuck his tongue out at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, and crossed her arms. "And what do you want me to do about that? Set you some chores or something?" She replied, sarcasm practically dripping from her tone.

"Nah. Just looking for some company." He hummed, walking past her into her room, ignoring her cries of protests.

"Hey! Did I invite you in?" She snapped, rounding around to look at him in disbelief.

He ignored her and instead dropped himself down onto her desk chair and span around in it, moving to face her. "I didn't need one- we're friends, right?" He stated, grinning at her cheekily.

"That's a generous term for it." She grumbled, shutting her door as she accepted she wasn't getting rid of him anytime soon.

Her floor was littered with old clothes she was sorting through, some that Fletch concluded could've been from when she was 12.

"You a bit of a hoarder?" He commented, picking up an old mustard yellow t-shirt that seemed to be so worn it had a couple of holes in it.

"When you're tight on funds, you don't have the luxury of renewing your wardrobe constantly." She bit out, slightly bitter that Fletch was probably from a loving family, while she had to struggle on her own for years.

"Did your mum nd dad not help you out?" He questioned, not looking at her as he instead focused on the clothes surrounding them.

Her jaw clenched, and she could feel her temper rising. "No."

Fletch twigged on to her discomfort, and realises he'd said something out of hand. "Sorry." He murmured sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was insensitive."

"In what way?" She hissed, roughly sorting through the clothes, chucking them into different piles.

"Ah, I shouldn't just assume everyone's had it easy like me."

She hums in agreement, and he takes it that she isn't willing to share anymore on the subject.

"Right!" He exclaims, eager to get rid of the tense atmousphere. "Chinese or pizza?"

"What?"

"Chinese or pizza?" He repeated, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "My treat." He grinned at her, holding his phone ready for her answer.

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. "Pizza. Dominos. Texas BBQ." She demanded, the ghost of a smile gracing her lips.

"Ah, I'm more of a meateor man- I'll get us a meal deal. Glad you're not a papa johns kinda girl, I would've had to end our friendship, I'm afraid." He teased, poking in his order as he spoke.

"You're breaking my heart." She retorted, the smirking that threatened to rise had now spilled along her face, the previous tension fading out of the room.

Fletch let out a throaty chuckle. "All ordered, m'lady."

She frowned at his term of endearment, but nodded greatfully. "Thanks. I can't pay you back currently, but next week-"

"Nah. This ones on me. What are friends for, right?" He grinned, jumping out of the chair to join her on the floor. "How can I help then, while we wait?"

"Fold up that pile for me while I sort out the rest of this crap." She commands, pointing to the pile of clothes in good condition. "Might get this all cleared away before the pizza arrived if you're fast." She grins, challenging him.

"Oh, you're on. Bet I can get these folded and put away before you can sort out that pile and get it in a bin bag." He propositioned, raising his eyebrows at her.

She pursed her lips at him, before smirking. "You're on."

With that, the two rushed about the place, the occasional trash talk being thrown at each other as they raced for domination.

x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o x o 

As the two finish up, a knock on the door alerted the two that they'd finished just in time.

"I won." Jac spat, rushing to the door childishly to beat him.

"Hey! No you didn't! I did!" He raced after her, picking her up from behind and throwing her around in a circle, ignoring her yelp of surprise as she was rushed off of her feet.

"Put me down!" She demanded, kicking her legs out, a smile threatening to cover her face.

"Not a chance." He grinned out, plonking her down on the sofa and leaving her to mope as he answered the door, taking the pizza and sides eagerly. He'd already pre paid, so he said thank you and shut the door behind him, waltzing over to the sofa and placing the boxes down. "Bon appetite!" He exclaimed, opening the boxes and encouraging her to dig in.

She didn't hesitate as she rushed forward and grabbed a slice of her Texas BBQ, letting out a moan of pleasure as the flavours burst in her mouth. "Beautiful."

"You're telling me." Moaned Fletch as he eagerly snacked on his slice, throwing himself back onto the sofa, his head thrown back and his eyes shut. "Pizza is God's gift and no one can tell me otherwise."

"Here here. Although, God doesn't really exist." She added as an afterthought, staring at him to gage his reaction.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. You heard of deism?" He questioned, speaking during his bites as not to be rude.

"No?" She questioned, curiousity peaking at his term.

"Well, its belief that there is a God, or some supreme being out that, that did help to create this all, but has had no serious intervention nor intervened with it since. I believe in that theory, as while I believe science and evolution has caused the earth to be the way it is, I feel there must have been something, even just a spark, that started this all off." He hummed out thoughtfully, a simple smile adorning his face as he spoke.

Jac nodded thoughtfully, pausing as she looked for the right words to say. "Not bad. I'm glad you're not one of those bible bashes, I must say." She joked, getting to her feet. "Wine?" She enquired, tilting her head as she questioned him.

"You've read my mind." He smiled at her as she strode off to the kitchen, pulling out two wine glasses and filling them generously with white wine, before returning back to the sofa, a comfortable distance between the two.

"Cheers." She hummed, offering him his glass.

"Cheers." He chuckled, clicking their glasses together, as the two drank their wine at a steady pace.

Multiple glasses of wine later, and the two were giggling away with each other on the sofa, Jac's legs sprawled across his lap comfortably, while his were kicked up on the table, the pizza and sides being cleaned away a while ago, leaving an almost empty bottle of wine and a fully empty one, along with half full glasses on the table.

"Nah, sixth form was shit." She slurred, swiping up her glass again and taking a huge gulp of it. "Hated every fucking second of it."

Fletch shook his head in disagreement, taking a swig from his glass while she spoke. "I'd have to disagree with you there. A good couple years, a good laugh." He chuckled, finishing off his glass and pushing back down onto the table.

"Alright for some. Roommates from hell." She hiccuped, finishing off her glass with him and putting it down, then moving to shift into a move comfortable position, appreciating the hand that he traced up and down her shin.

"You what? Didn't live at home?" He hummed out, frowning at her in confusion.

"Nah. Not since I was 12." She grumbled out, a bitter taste forming in her mouth.

"What were they like? Your roommates?" He questioned, not wanting to push her too far for any information.

"Nasty fuckers. Always drunk or high, and beyond messy. Stole money from me a lot, probably to buy drugs or whatever, but as long as they didn't bother me and I could get on with my studies, I didn't care in the slightest." She rambled out, her head swaying slightly as the wine flowed through her veins.

"Sounds like a pair of bitches. Just lemme know if you want me to break into their flat nd give them a fright." He huffed out, frowning at the thought. She snickered at him, and shook her head.

"You got off light with me. They'd knock your teeth out, wouldn't stand a chance." She chortled, smiling at the thought.

"I'd like to see them try. Not with these bad boys." He exclaimed, flexing his muscles, but failing to uphold his facade as the two burst into laughter, the two throwing their heads back.

"For what it's worth." He mumbled, his tone growing serious. "Whatever happened with your parents, I'm really sorry." His gaze turned to hers, only to find her looking unusually closed off.

She stayed silent for a while, before reverting her gaze from him. "It's whatever." She mumbled out, moving her feet off of his lap and composing herself on the other side of the sofa.

Fletch silently berated himself for ruining the atmousphere again, and ran a hand through his hair. "Look-"

He was cut off as the door to the flat opened, and Raf and Cara stumbled in, chuckling away to themselves.

"Hey guys!" Greeted Raf, Cara giving the two a shy wave. "Sorry for disturbing you, we'll get out of your way."

"No no, it's okay, I need to get ready to sleep anyway." Jac spoke up, getting to her feet, stumbling slightly as the wine still flowed through her body.

Raf nodded, and waved at the two. "Well, goodnight then." He said, before him and Cara headed into Raf's room, shutting the door behind them.

Fletch stumbled to his feet too, offering her a sheepish smile. "Thanks for the company, meant a lot." He stumbled out, shuffling with his hands.

"No, I should be thanking you. The pizza was great, and you're not terrible company." She teased, offering him a tight lipped smile before turning to head to her room.

"Wait wait." Fletch gritted out, cusping her wrist, urging her to turn around and face him.

"Are we okay?" He murmured, his vision swirling but he was still able to focus on her.

She smiled at him, and nodded her head, running her hand down his arm.

"Yeah." She assured him, before retreating into her room, Fletch watching her retreating form.

Grabbing the empty wine glasses and bottle, Fletch set about cleaning up, a skip in his step and a smile on his face.


	6. Blue Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late chapter ! They will be less frequent I'm afraid- exam season and all :)
> 
> in which Christmas comes, Fletch is grumpy and Jac is contagious.

Christmas was fast approaching, and the closer it got, the sourer Jac's mood got, too.

This hadn't gone unnoticed by those surrounding her, but most people chose not to comment. Since their meeting, Jac and Fletch had grown a relatively close bond, the two sharing a mutual understanding of each other, Fletch knowing when he was pushing his luck and Jac knowing that she had to put effort into keeping Fletch in the loop to be fair to him. Despite this, she was still feared within her course- having gained the nickname 'Jacular', a nickname Fletch hated, wasn't a misplaced nickname. She was ice cold when she needed to be, standing on anyone to get here way, apart from Sacha of course, and she tended to be nicer to Raf and Ollie, having quiet respect for the two. She enjoyed Raf's company, knowing he was passionate just like her, and while she knew Ollie was ignorant and could be annoying, she knew he would be a good doctor. Thus, she left him alone.

Fletch, Donna and Raf had noticed her distaste for the holidays, especially when she voiced her obvious resentment towards the 'childish' decorations the trio had put up. The three took no notice of her though, becoming immune to her icey behaviour and learning to just embrace her at face value. The flat's dynamic had changed- by no mean we're Jac and Donna close, but they could enjoy each others company and shared the terrors of having to share a room with two boys, a topic the two thouraghly enjoyed hitching about over a glass of wine or when cleaning up after them. They all happened to get on, and she was no longer their 'mystery girl'.

Jac knew she was being unfair with her mood, but she had always despised the holidays. All she could remember were the holidays at the home- always dull with the scrawniest Christmas tree ever, with never a present to be seen underneath. Their meals were changed up a bit, getting some roast potatoes and turkey for their dinners instead of the cheap frozen vegetables and smash, a meal that even thinking about made her want to throw up. She remembers how on Christmas, he'd help himself to manipulating more girls, and she'd muffle her ears under her pillows to drown out the cries that she would hear. To conclude, Jac Naylor hated Christmas.

She sat on the counter of their flat, grumpily skimming through her notes, being slightly more rough with the paper than needed at the thought of her past traumas. She's snapped out of self pity as Fletch slams the door to their flat open, his face bright with anger as he chucks his phone down onto the sofa, before stomping to his room and slamming the door shut behind him, not even sparing Jac a glance.

She watches after him, puzzled by his behaviour, as she gets to her feet cautiously, following him to his door before knocking cautiously. She hears a muffles go away, to which she ignores, as she pushes the door open delicately, poking her head around the corner to see him sat on his bed, head held in his hands.

"What part of Go Away do you not understand?" He snapped, a tone Jac never heard come from the usually childish and happy-go-lucky man.

"The part of which you're upset and no one else is around to console you. What's wrong?" She questioned, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her, not daring to go near him just yet.

"Doesn't matter. Just stupid family stuff." He grumbled, clenching the sides of his bed as he kept his gaze trained on the ground in front of me.

"Well it's clearly upsetting you. Maybe talking about it will make you feel better." She offered, not really sure what to do to make him feel better. She didn't do shoulders to cry on.

"My parents are going away with my aunt and uncle and their cousins." He started, finally lifting his eyes up.

"What a crime-" she started, only to get cut off by him.

"I hate them. They're homophobic, racist, egotistical fucks and I can't stand being around them. Mum and Dad know this, and they don't like them either, but my grandma wants them all to be together for the holidays." He grits out, frustration flowing through him at his confession. "We just argued about it. Looks like I'm going to be here for the holidays- I'd rather eat my own leg than spend time with them."

Jac nods as he speaks, and eventually goes to sit by him, leaving a small gap between the two. "Well, I for one think you're doing the right thing. Family doesn't mean they get an excuse for having such appalling opinions. Besides, I'm going to be here for Christmas. I'm sure my old roommates won't be missing me." She jokes, offering him a tight lipped smile.

He let out a weak chuckle, before nodding his head. "Yeah. You're right. We'll make this a good Christmas, you and me." He announced, grinning at her wildly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I don't celebrate Christmas-"

"Well, you do now. You won't be able to resist after getting the old Fletchers Christmas!" He cheered, causing her to smile at him.

"If it makes you feel better and distracts you from you sad life." She teases.

He chuckles, before engulfing her in a hug, wrapping his arm around her and placing a kiss to her hairline. "Thanks Jac. I feel a lot better now." He hummed, resting his head on the top of her head.

She hummed in response, taken slightly off guard by the sudden affection, and feeling the blood rush to her cheeks as his lips connected with her forehead. "Don't think I'm going to become your own personal therapist." She warned once he'd released her from his embrace, him nodding in response.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The end of term rolled around fast, and before they knew it, everyone was appearing to get ready to go home. They had the best part of a month and a half to themselves as neither of them were going home, and it was a long time with just the two of them. However, Fletch knew that Lofty, Zosia, Dom, Serena and Bernie were planning on staying too- although, all of them weren't going to be there for Christmas Eve, Christmas day and Boxing Day as they all had places to go- Fletch and Jac, on the other hand, weren't blessed.

Fletch's had called him persistently, trying to bring him round to the idea of coming away with them, but the date had come and gone and Fletch hadn't budged. They'd gone away without him despite their threats, straining their strong bond. Fletch tried not to care- it was his parents being unreasonable- but it was hard for him to keep his usual cheery demeanour up.

In an attempt to try and cheer himself up, he'd rushed out to the nearest shop that was open on Christmas Eve, and bought as much cheap "christmas rubbish" as Jac had so kindly put it, including a skinny green Christmas tree, and headed back to the shared flat, on a mission to make it as homely as possible on such small funds.

He strung lights upon the walls, the flashes of red and green and white illuminating the room, sending shimmers reflecting off of the complimentary baubles that Fletch had managed to get in the discounted section. He'd set their counter-top table with the nicest plates they had and some actual matching cutlery, along with glittery red candles that sparkles gently against the soft illumination of the fairy lights. His bootleg Christmas Eve meal had all gone to plan, and he was ready to annoying Jac immensely with it.

He was dishing up the chicken and vegetables he'd put together when Jac emerged from her room, and boy, was it a sight.

Her hair was up in a messy bun, frays of it escaping the bun on top of her hair and lining her face delicately- slightly frizzy, as if she hadn't styled it as she usually did. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bloodshot, and she could have given Rudolph quite the run for his money with her nose. She held a half used tissue in her hand, and an extremely oversized hoodie, which Fletch soon realised was one of his, and he assumed she was wearing shorts underneath. To finish off her look, she had bright red fluffy socks on her feet.

It soon occurred to him that Jac must have been sick.

"Yikes." He grimaced, putting the pan he was holding down.

"Shut it." She rasped out, scowling at him as she trudged out of the room, clutching her head.

"You look rough. So rough I won't even complain about you stealing one of my hoodies." He teased, leaning against the counter. "Is it the kind of sickness where you can't stop eating, or you can't eat at all?"

She thought for a moment, and shook her head. "I haven't eaten all day so I guess I need to eat at least something. Have you got anything small?" She questioned, rummaging through the cupboards for some paracetamol to fight off the pounding headache she was currently suffering from.

"You really are ill." He chuckled, moving to the stove to get some plain chicken for her, a small amount of mashed potato and some mixed vegetables on the side if she was feeling up to it. "If you can't smell this masterpiece, then your nose must be completely blocked."

She rose an eyebrow as the food was shoved over to her, taking in its contents. "What's the occasion? Do you have a date? If you do I can get out-"

"Who has a date on Christmas Eve?" He chuckled, guiding her over to the counter table that he'd set up in a half decent surrounding. "Nah, in the Fletcher household, you do things like this the real way! Christmas is a three day thing." He proudly accounced as he took a seat opposite her.

"God you're far too cheerful. Stop it." She chastised, as she picked at the chicken in front of her. "Well, happy fucking Christmas to me. Plain chicken and a volatile stomach. Cheers."

Fletch chuckled quietly, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't worry Naylor, you should be better by tomorrow. That's when the real fun begins." He grinned out, shoving a mouthful of food into his mouth as he spoke.

She groaned at him, rolling her eyes, the action causing her to take notice of the sudden change in appearance of the flat. She narrowed her eyes at him, and stuck her lip out.

"What have you done to the flat? A Christmas tree? Really? We don't have any presents to put under it." She complained, waving her fork around in an exaggerated stance.

"That's where you're wrong, my friend. My presents for my friends are under there, ready for all of them when they get back." He cheered, flashing her a toothy grin. "Even yours is under there, all wrapped and ready for you tomorrow."

Jac felt her stomach drop, and she held a hand up to her mouth as a sudden wave of sickness washed over her.

She rushed to her feet, and only just made it to the sink before bringing up the small amount of food that she had digested only moments before. Fletch was only steps behind her, grasping her stray hair behind her ears and rubbing her back soothingly, smiling at her fondly. "Didn't know you were actually allergic to Christmas." He joked, standing behind her and waiting for her to recover.

They stood in silence for a while as Jac breathed heavily, fighting off the waves as they came, while Fletch continued to rub her back and running his hands along her forehead every now and then to move the stray hairs from her firing line, just in case.

Finally, she leaned up, and rested her elbows on the edge of the sink, her eyes still shut. Fletch moved back from her space, and waited patiently, incase she had another bout of sickness.

"I haven't got you anything." She admitted finally, and if Fletch could swear on something, he thought he'd seen a flash of guilt pass through her eyes. He felt a wave of affection for the younger girl infront of him all of a sudden.

She looked so small stood there. She was practically drowning in Fletch's hoodie, which he remembered she'd borrowed from him after the two got caught in the rain on the way back from the library. Her skin was pale, as white as a ghost, her usual fiery auburn hair had lost it's spark, looking dull and put out, and her eyes no longer held their sharp feline glare to them, instead holding heavy blue backs underneath them. Her voice sounded tired and defeated, not like the usual Jac Naylor wit that he was oh so used to by now.

She looked so vulnerable, he mused.

"I know. Christmas isn't your thing, I know that. I just didn't want you waking up and having no presents, and feeling that no one cares about you. No one should." He murmured gently, taking a step towards her and running his hands up and down her shoulders soothingly, offering her a kind smile.

"That's not fair though, that's not how Christmas works." She protested, pouting.

"Since when have you ever followed the rules?" He questioned.

"Touché." She agreed, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips, as she swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"cmon now, let's get you to bed nice and early." Cooed Fletch, gently grasping her to help guide her towards her room, to which she shrugged him off.

"Not tired. Let's go watch a movie or some shit." She grumbled out stubbornly, walking over to the sofa and throwing herself onto it, letting out a long sigh as she groaned.

Fletch snickered, before joining her, grabbing the blanket that was folded neatly next to it for the movie nights the four often had. He chucked it over her, avoiding invading her personal space, before getting Netflix up onto the screen.

His eyebrows rose to his head when she moved over next to him, allowing him to have some of the blanket. She wasn't cuddling- Jac Naylor doesnt cuddle- but she was sat close enough that her arm was brushing his, causing heat to rise to his cheeks, but he managed to keep calm and cool, before switching Elf on.

Jac let out a loud whine, and threw her head back. "You're not serious."

He let out a yelp of offence, holding a hand to his heart mockingly. "It's a Fletcher tradition! And a Christmas classic! Naylor, you need some serious help." He grumbled out, keeping the remote away from her incase she tried to fight him for it.

"Whatever." She huffed, sinking down in her seat and keeping her eyes trained on the screen in front of her.

She didn't even make it half an hour into the film before she had drifted off, her head slumping down onto his shoulder, her soft breaths drawing out in a steady rhythm. Fletch rolled his eyes, before pausing the movie and scooping the small girl into his arms, her grumbling in protest to the sudden movement.

"Shush you numpty, I'm banishing you to bed." He ordered, pushing her door open with his hip.

"Killjoy." She teased as she was lowered into her bed, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he shuffled her under her covers. Fletch gripped her hands, attempting to gently pry them off of his neck.

"Noooo. Stay." She whined, her exhaustion talking for her.

He chuckled quietly, successfully managing to free himself. "I think you'd regret that decision."

She hummed in response, before rolling over and falling straight back to sleep.

He smiled down at her. "Goodnight, Jac." He purred, placing a gentle kiss on her temple before leaving the young girl to sleep, and for Fletch to return to his annual watch of Elf.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 

"I'm going to burn myself alive."

Fletch had gone to sleep soon after he'd finished Elf, crashing on his bed, unusually tired. Jac on the other hand, had woken up, feeling much better- her day long misery passing by after a good nights sleep. Unfortunately, Fletch wasn't so lucky to be feeling well in himself.

He'd trudged out of his bedroom, a simple white t-shirt and only his black boxers on, his arms wrapped around himself while shivering, shuffling along towards the cupboards for some paracetamol.

Jac watched on in amusement, looking a lot fresher than she did yesterday, a mug clasped in her hands. She wore a bear dressing gown, topped with little brown ears on them, and some black joggers.

"I hope you like my Christmas present to you." She joked, getting to her feet and beating Fletch to the cupboard, popping two paracetamols and running a glass of water for him.

"Christmas is ruined. You got your way in the end." He whined, taking the offering items gratefully, knocking them both back.

"Christmas is overrated anyway." She shrugged, peeling her dressing gown off and offering it to him.

Fletch eyed her up wearily, before taking the offending item and shrugging it on, appreciating the wave of warmth that flowed over him.

Jac peaked an eyebrow at him, a smile threatening to emerge over her face. "That's quite a look." She commented, taking a seat back on the counter table.

Fletch smirked in return, pulling the hood up to complete the look. "I can pull off anything." He exclaimed, his voice raspy.

"Questionable." She muttered to herself, busying herself with pouring a bowl of cereal. "Just another normal day then." She commented, a satisfied smile on her face.

She was confused to see no response, only to turn around and find Fletch looking like a kicked puppy. His eyes were averted from her, and he was slouched over the table. "Sure." He finally replies, offering her a weak smile in an attempt to cover up his disappointment.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, trying to figure out what she'd done wrong.

"Just not feeling great. I'm gonna head back to bed." He hummed out, forcing himself out of the seat and shuffling over back towards his bedroom. "Oh, and Merry Christmas Jac." He spoke, before closing the door behind him.

Jac blinked, and felt a pang of pity. She realised it must have been his first Christmas without his family, and to make matters worse, he was spending it with the most pessimistic person alive.

She huffed to herself. "Keep my dressing gown then." She grumbled, picking up toast she'd just made, a plan formulating in her head.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Fletch awoke from his nap to a loud knocking on the door, proceeded by him jumping and almost falling out of his bed. He groaned quietly to himself, cursing Jac for waking him from such a peaceful slumber, and quickly noticed the time- 2pm. He let out another long groan, wishing for the day to be over.

Jac had clearly gotten impatient, and pushed the door open to his room. "Come on you lazy lump, get up." She commanded, before exiting the room, leaving the door wide open.

Fletch scowled at her retreating figure, flipping her the bird, before dragging himself to his feet. He chucked on Jac's dressing gown again and some black joggers, before exiting the room after her, shivering slightly, clearly running a slight fever.

He raised his eyebrows as he emerged to find the table set, with some plain chicken and mash for Fletch, and a plate of chicken (seasoned, of course) with mash, vegetables and gravy for Jac. The red candles flickered away, placed delicately next to a single Christmas cracker and what appeared to be a small, wrapped up box.

He took cautious steps, taking in the dimly lit room that surrounded him, the curtains drawn so that the lights illuminated around him. A small smile played on his lips, before he turned his gaze to Jac.

She looked slightly sheepish and uncomfortable, shuffling on the spot, and not quite meeting his gaze.

"What's all this?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, her cheeks flushed red.

"Its your first Christmas without your family. It may not mean anything to me, but I don't like seeing you all mopey and sad." She grumbled out, pouting.

"Cheers Jac." He snickered, rolling his eyes playfully. "But really, thanks. It means a lot."

She offered him a tight lipped smile before taking a seat on the counter table, motioning for him to do the same. He quickly obliged, rushing over to join her.

He eyed up the small wrapped up box, and looked at the other girl for permission. "Sure." She grunted, seeming disinterested as she tucked into her food, avoiding his vision.

He scrambled to underwrap the box, careful not to rip the wrapping paper as it was just so pretty. He prized the box open, and grinned as he looked at the gift with affection.

A small, orange gem was encased in a silver holding, connected to a black lace that fell limp in his hand. The orange gem shone brightly in the candlelight, reflecting off of the illumination of the flames, flickering constantly, showing up new patterns and designs that swirls around the small artifact. He looked up at Jac questioningly, a small smile playing on his lips.

"A carnelian." She clarified, her voice quiet. "I didn't have time to get you anything, and this was one of the few things I had from when I was a kid. Carnelians represent creativity and confidence, vibrancy and ambition- it's never really fully felt right with me. I've always been told I'm more of a Jasper." She sighed out, a small smile gracing her lips. "Dunno, guess it just felt right with you. You also seem like the kinda man that believes in that whole gemstone healing business." She joked.

Fletch swallowed the lump forming in his throat, and gave her a grateful grin. "I don't think I've ever had such a thoughtful gift." He rasped out, unhooking it and wrapping it around his neck, wearing it with pride. "Thanks."

She nodded, and smiled at him, before carrying on with her meal.

The two soon finished, and retreated to the sofas, ready to binge watch all of the 'Christmas crap' that was on the TV as Jac had so kindly put, before Fletch sprang from his comfortable position.

"Oh! Your gift!" He exclaimed, getting to his feet slowly as not to upset his stomach. He waddled over to the tree, and picked up a small rectangular box, neatly wrapped with a small golden bow on top.

She raised an eyebrow as he presented it to her proudly, grinning from ear to ear at her. She took it cautiously, and unwrapped it delicately. It was one of the only gifts she'd ever received in her life and wasn't used to the kindness he was displaying. Not that she would tell him that, though.

She carefully lifted open the box, and her lips parted slightly at the sight. A black stephoscope lay in neatly in the box infront of her, lined neatly with small intricate gold patterns trailing along it neatly. Next to it lay a pen light, black with similar matching gold patterns running along it.

She was speechless.

"Shit, is it too much? I got similar to Raf except red, I'm-"

"How could you even afford this?" She exclaimed, picking it out carefully, feeling as if it wasn't actually real.

"Ah, it's kinda sad, I always save up to get really nice presents for my friends every year, I really like Christmas." He admitted sheepishly, grinning at her innocently.

"Fletch I..." she started, dropping it back down, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I don't know how.." she spluttered out, before turning to look at him, feeling her cheeks burn.

He was about to reassure her when she rushed forward and engulfed him in a hug, digging her head into his neck and wrapping her arms around his neck. He let out a squeak of surprise, before returning the hug with a fond smile. The hug didn't last too long as Jac retracted herself, wipeing her eyes clean from any evidence of tears.

"If you ever tell anyone about that I know how to surgically kill you." She threatened, but it was half hearted and weak. He snickered at her, and saluted. "Scouts honour."

Jac smiled at him gratefully, before settling back down onto the sofa with him, the two turning their attention back to the TV that currently had a terrible daytime Christmas movie on, both relishing each others company.

"Am I going to get my dressing gown back?"

"When I get my hoodie back."

"Touché."

Maybe Christmas wasn't too bad after all, Jac mused.


End file.
